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ATINER's Conference Paper Series HIS2015-1878 ATINER CONFERENCE PAPER SERIES No: LNG2014-1176 Athens Institute for Education and Research ATINER ATINER's Conference Paper Series HIS2015-1878 Relationships between Radu Vodă Monastery in Bucharest and Ivir Monastery on Mount Athos Florenţa Teleman PhD Student “Nicolae Iorga” History Institute of the Romanian Academy Romania 1 ATINER CONFERENCE PAPER SERIES No: HIS2015-1878 An Introduction to ATINER's Conference Paper Series ATINER started to publish this conference papers series in 2012. It includes only the papers submitted for publication after they were presented at one of the conferences organized by our Institute every year. This paper has been peer reviewed by at least two academic members of ATINER. Dr. Gregory T. Papanikos President Athens Institute for Education and Research This paper should be cited as follows: Teleman, F. (2016). "Relationships between Radu Vodă Monastery in Bucharest and Ivir Monastery on Mount Athos", Athens: ATINER'S Conference Paper Series, No: HIS2015-1878. Athens Institute for Education and Research 8 Valaoritou Street, Kolonaki, 10671 Athens, Greece Tel: + 30 210 3634210 Fax: + 30 210 3634209 Email: [email protected] URL: www.atiner.gr URL Conference Papers Series: www.atiner.gr/papers.htm Printed in Athens, Greece by the Athens Institute for Education and Research. All rights reserved. Reproduction is allowed for non-commercial purposes if the source is fully acknowledged. ISSN: 2241-2891 03/05/2016 2 ATINER CONFERENCE PAPER SERIES No: HIS2015-1878 Relationships between Radu Vodă Monastery in Bucharest and Ivir Monastery on Mount Athos Florenţa Teleman PhD Student “Nicolae Iorga” History Institute of the Romanian Academy Romania Abstract The type of relationships established between two Orthodox settlements, one representative for the Romanian territory below the Carpathians, the other gaining its renown prestige from its membership to the monastic complex on Mount Athos, takes shape in the political-social context of the spirituality and mentality of the 16-19th centuries. Born from a hierarchical subordination and a mark of religiosity with multiple implications, the relations established between the representatives of the two geographical areas are determined by the initiative of committing the religious buildings from the Romanian area to important centers of Eastern Orthodox Christian spirituality. The duties and benefits for each party, as established by the act of worship, give shape to these relations, while the documents arising from the relationship between the two settlements, over the passage of time, fill in the gaps and are able to aid us in understanding better the complex mentality of this period of time. The link created, in the name of God, between the two monastic settlements, now allows the writing of a common history: a history not only of the relations between the Radu Vodă Monastery in Bucharest with the Ivir Monastery on Mount Athos, but also the durability and the evolution of the two monastic settlements. Keywords: Radu Vodă Monastery, Ivir Monastery, Mount Athos, dedicated monastery. Acknowledgments: Research finances through the project “MINERVA – Cooperation for the elite career in doctoral and post-doctoral research”, contract code: POSDRU/159/1.5/S/137832, project financed from European Social Fond through the Sectorial Operational Program Development of Human Resources 2007-2013. 3 ATINER CONFERENCE PAPER SERIES No: HIS2015-1878 There aren't many moments in which history has connected two geographical areas located so far away from each other, for a period of several centuries and with such important implications for both sides. The reasons for such an approach can be explained through the common religious beliefs they shared, under whose legitimacy the ever changing connection was born, has existed and has managed to secure its continuity. At the same time, the connection was motivated by a clear and decisive context of mutual benefits in facing the adversities of the times. And, in completing the set, it needs to be said that these triggering factors took, aside from political, social and economic shapes, also spiritual shapes, while the consequences of this beginning were spread and diversified on long-term. It is the case of the connection created, for more than a quarter of a millennium1, between sacred Athos, through the monks of Ivir Monastery, and the Romanian territory South of the Carpathians, through personalities of the age, but also through persons not as well known, yet representative for the history of the Radu Vodă Monastery from Bucharest. Born from a hierarchical subordination and mark of religiosity, with multiple implications, the relations established between the representatives of the two geographical areas are determined by the initiative of committing religious buildings from the Romanian area to important centers of Eastern Orthodox Christian spirituality. Located in a larger area subscribed to the act of donation, the dedication of a religious establishment has appeared and has developed in the 16-18th centuries, becoming an important component of religious life and practice. In the beliefs of the Christians, in a hierarchy of good deeds, essential in the relationship between human and the divine, in which the most important act was the erection of a church, the dedication of a religious establishment certainly took a second position2. In this context we can place the act of dedicating the Radu Vodă Monastery to the Ivir establishment, committed by Radu Mihnea, voivode of Wallachia. Starting from the significance of this act, in the following lines I propose the analysis of the reports generated by the dedication act, in the timeline between the years 1613-1863, from the initiation until the end the above named relationships. The interest for this subject is determined by the consequences of the link that resulted, first on the evolution of the two religious establishments and then on the expansion of these relationships in the region North of the Danube river. As one of the first monasteries in Wallachia built by a voivode, dedicated to another religious establishment located outside the country and the first dedicated to Ivir Monastery3, the interpretation of the sources has led us to the conclusion that the Radu Vodă Monastery was a role model in the development of the phenomenon of dedicating religious 1 From 1613 to 1863. 2 Lazăr, 2012, 59. 3 To Ivir Monastery was dedicated another church, act made by a Greek noble named Stelea, in the year 1582, according to Cotovanu, 2014, 253-254. 4 ATINER CONFERENCE PAPER SERIES No: HIS2015-1878 establishments in the Romanian Country to Ivir Monastery, and, above, to the monasteries from Mount Athos. We were able to reach these conclusions by analyzing the archive documents resulted from the initiation and development of these ties, by analyzing certain representative works referring to the phenomenon of dedicating religious establishments in the region South of the Carpathians and from the comparative analysis of the consequences of dedicating the Radu Vodă Monastery to Ivir Monastery with those resulted from previous acts of dedication. Our demonstration can only begin by presenting the general context in which Radu Vodă has chosen to dedicate his monastery to a representative religious establishment from Mount Athos. His gesture has an even more complex meaning in the political ambience of the time, for he acted, to a certain point, just as those before him did. This statement is related to the example of the old emperors, kings and voivodes from before, which appears in many acts of worship signed by the Romanian voivodes, in the periods of time before and after the act of dedication the Radu Vodă Monastery to Ivir Monastery, and is important in understanding the context. That is because, in the case of the charters dedicated to the Holy Places, through which certain aid was offered (consisting of gold, religious artifacts, domains, animals, income resulting from taxes etc.) the act of worship expands to new meanings, in the context of the decay and even the disappearance, under the Ottoman rule, of the former supporters of prestigious Orthodox communities4. More exactly, because the Ottoman Empire has granted a large autonomy to the Romanian Countries, the Romanian voivodes have played an important part in prolonging this tradition5. This has only meant an extension of the policy of supporting religious establishments outside the borders of their own countries, as a new and superior stage of manifesting their support, the political, social, material and spiritual implications being entirely diverse. In this so called policy of erecting, centred on prestigious religious establishments located outside the country, that has taken different shapes and levels of collaboration and has extended to every social category, the dedication of religious establishments has taken a central role6. Things can be seen more clearly if we take into consideration the fact that it has been one of the most generous forms of aiding the Holy Places, given the long period of time in which it was activated, namely to the second half of the 19th century7. 4 The Byzantine Empire, the Bulgarian and Serbian states; see Cândea, Simionescu 1979, 7-9. 5 Of this contribution, with its significant political implications, wrote: Iorga, 1972; Năsturel, 1973; Georgescu, 1980; Pippidi, 1983; Moldoveanu, 2002. 6 For more information regarding the religious deeds of erecting and dedicating religious establishments, see the works of the fallowing authors: Lazăr, 2012, 59-60, Brezoianu, 1861; Bolliac, 1862; Popescu-Spineni, 1936. 7 The legislative act of Alexandru Ioan Cuza from 1863, regarding the confiscation of monastery goods, also brought in the property of the state the properties of the dedicated monasteries; see Giurescu, 1959. 5 ATINER CONFERENCE PAPER SERIES No: HIS2015-1878 The initiation of the ties between the Radu Vodă Monastery to Ivir has another cause. Radu Mihnea also dedicated his monastery to the Ivir establishment as a gesture of gratitude. In order to assure his protection, his father, Mihnea the second, sent him to Ivir when he was young.
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